Lately, the story of Illinois softball has been one of mediocre pitching bailed out by strong hitting, but this weekend at Eichelberger Field at Martin Stadium the story was different.

Senior pitcher Claire DeVreese began the weekend looking strong in the circle, going seven innings without a walk and striking out nine Minnesota batters. The Golden Gophers (22-14, 5-6 Big Ten) pushed just two runs across the plate, but Illinois (27-24, 6-8) bats were unable to muster a single run against junior Briana Hassett as the Illini fell 2-0 on Friday.

“The team wins and loses together,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “We’ve had times where our pitching performance wasn’t what it needed to be and our offense was. Bottom line is, this time of year you have to have both.”

But the Fighting Illini didn’t suffer from a lack of offense on Saturday, defeating Minnesota 10-2 in five innings.

Setting the tone was senior shortstop Angelena Mexicano, who belted her 17th homer of the season in the first inning. The drive set a team record for most home runs in a single season, and Mexicano would add No. 18 on Sunday against Wisconsin.

“It’s a great honor, it’s a great privilege – just following in the footsteps of (teammate) Shanna Diller and Jenna Hall from past years,” Mexicano said of breaking her own single-season record. “It’s indescribable.”

With one out and one on in the bottom of the second against Minnesota, freshman second baseman Danielle Zymkowitz singled to left field, driving in sophomore right fielder Hope Howell. The Illini proceeded to bat around the order, scoring six times in the inning.

“We really carried out the game plan – to score early and often and use the whole field and make adjustments at the plate,” Sullivan said. “Everyone was confident, it gets contagious.”

DeVreese carried her improved pitching into game one on Sunday, giving up just two runs over seven innings with four strikeouts against Wisconsin (12-37, 2-14 Big Ten).

The offense took over from there, defeating the Badgers 3-2.

Providing the late-inning heroics was senior center fielder Sarah Bryers. With the Illini down 2-1 in the sixth and two outs, Bryers launched a two-run homer to propel the squad to victory.

In game two, Illini pitching struggled, but the offense was enough to pull out an 8-6 win.

The Badgers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first off sophomore Ashley Wright, but the Illini got right back in it with a home run by Mexicano in the bottom half of the inning and a six-run third.

With two outs in the third, Bryers hit her second homer of the day and ninth of the season. The shot appeared to be a double, but was ruled a home run by the umpire.

“I didn’t really see what happened,” Bryers said. “All I know was the umpire was waving me around, so I just went with it.”

Howell followed Bryers’ long ball with her own, her second of the season.

But Wisconsin responded in the fourth with back-to-back homers of its own by designated player Letty Olivarez and left fielder Valyncia Raphael, chasing Wright. DeVreese ended the inning without further damage, but she would surrender a run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk and was eventually replaced by sophomore Christine Christopoulos in the sixth.

“Christine Christopoulos, the (pitcher) with the least amount of innings, came in at the most critical time and just showed all kinds of confidence,” Sullivan said. “She has an outstanding presence on the mound.”

It was a 3-1 weekend for the Illini, and the victories were truly a team effort.

“It’s one of the best weekends we’ve worked together as a team,” Sullivan said. “We had to get the sweep (Sunday). The team wasn’t afraid to say it, they said it out loud, and we got the job done.”